Stewart spanks Kansas on 'The Daily Show'

Jon Stewart had his way with legislation pending in the Kansas Legislature during his nightly show Thursday.

Kansas was featured Thursday night not once, but twice, on “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart in a segment called "The States: Meth Labs of Democracy."

Stewart, the host of the satirical newscast, took repeated shots at the language, intent and media coverage of two bills that recently appeared before the Kansas House. The segment took up about 10 minutes toward the beginning of the 10 p.m. show on Comedy Central.

He first latched onto a bill that defined spanking, which he saw as a challenge to parents.

“Is that all you got?” he joked. “Put your back into it.”

After cutting to a newscast describing the bill as allowing parents to "hit their kids harder," Stewart paused, smirked into the camera and said, “Yeah, chew on that for a little bit.”

His second reference was to House Bill 2453, which protects business owners who decline to provide services to homosexuals because of their religious belief. It was a piece of legislation Stewart affectionately dubbed the “no-cake-for-gays bill.”

Both bills since have died, though not before the “religious freedom” bill last week passed the House 72-49.

Rumors that the show, which regularly averages more than 1.25 million viewers, would cover Kansas started Wednesday morning, but died down until a couple of hours before the broadcast. Speculations were rampant, but no one knew exactly what lit Stewart's fire this week — a fact even the show picked up on.

"Tonight! What's the matter with Kansas? No, not that — the other thing. No, the other thing. Oh, just tune in," the show's Twitter feed sent out 90 minutes before the show.

"How does Kansas not have a fixed @TheDailyShow segment every night?" asked @ChrisAytes.

Stewart had some fun with the spanking debate, pointing out the law allowed parents to designate anyone, from "birthday clowns" to "local drifters," to dole out punishment. After showing a clip quoting the bill's definition of corporal punishment — including the phrase, "tender skin of a child" — a member of the audience gasped, “Oh my god.”

He also called out one news outlet for countering professional studies that show the damages of spanking with a tweet from one @darnshootin.

The Kansas law punishes a kid’s butt, Stewart continued, but where can we go to punish their brain? Right next door.

Stewart shifted to Missouri, where a legislator is trying to pass a bill that would allow parents to opt their children out of natural selection education. He only touched on Missouri briefly before he signaled it was time to tackle another wacky state.

“It's really Kansas again?" he asked, incredulous. "You just had your turn. This better be good.”

And Stewart jumped into the religious freedom bill. He showed some clips of various news coverage, though one in particular stood out. It was a quote from Josh Barro on MSNBC saying the bill would allow bakers in national chain supermarkets to turn away homosexuals.

“You think a gay wedding’s going to have a supermarket cake?” Stewart asked. “This couple’s waiting their whole lives for the freedom to marry. They’re not just going to swing by the Safeway.”

(Some pointed out the Safeway reference and Stewart's use of his trademark New Jersey accent to mimic a Kansan were a bit off base.)

However, Stewart noted, the religious freedom bill died in the Senate, soliciting cheers from the audience.

“There are some ideas that are too ridiculous even for a state senate,” he said.

Then he cut to a piece about the Arizona State Senate recently passing a similar bill.

Stewart started the segment with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr., “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

Once Kansas came up for the second time, Stewart joked, “This arc’s not bending toward justice on my watch.”